London Town

Nestled among its ballpoint cousins lies my brand-new Parker 'Jotter' fountain pen in "Royal Blue", a very recent purchase from my local Staples. The rest of the 'Jotters' are all (with one exception) ballpoints named for or inspired by famous places in London...

(click on image to enlarge)

Left to Right: a Parker 'Jotter-London Architecture' (Sky Blue) "Modern" ballpoint  (whose etched barrel was inspired by London's skyscraper "The Shard", the tallest building in the U.K), a 'Jotter Premium' "West End" (London's famous theatre district) with gold trim model, a Parker 'Jotter' in "Bond Street Black" (named after the London street known for luxury shopping) with chrome trim, a 2004 Parker 'Jotter Premier Edition' in "Saffron Yellow" with sterling silver cap and filigree overlay that I blogged about here, a 'Jotter' fountain pen in "Royal Blue", a 'Jotter' in "Chelsea Orange" (named for a trendy area of South West London) and a 'Jotter' in "Waterloo Blue" (named after a district in Central London).

The Parker 'Jotter' ballpoint came out in 1954. Since then, over 750 million Jotters have been produced, first in Janesville, Wisconsin and then (since 1999) in Newhaven, England. This affordable icon is one that, in my humble opinion, every writing instrument lover should have in their collection :)

(photo & blog post by Maja)

Thoughtfulness

A few days before the U.S-Canada border closed to all non-essential traffic due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I received three parcels from the U.S. I'd been eagerly awaiting. Since I dodn't have any March meeting photos to post, I thought I'd snap a couple of shots and share them with you on our pen club blog...

(please click on images to enlarge)

The first parcel to arrive was from Teri Morris of Peyton Street Pens in Santa Cruz, California. Inside the box was my beautiful new purple Levenger 'Facets' fountain pen (a hard-to-find discontinued model) and two unexpected gifts--a black Sheaffer 'Imperial 330' mechanical pencil and a Pentel eraser! It's not the first example of Teri's thoughtfulness - my previous order contained a lovely Sheaffer '300' ballpoint (which I really enjoy using---thanks again, Teri!).

The second package contained another Levenger writing instrument---a 'True Writer' ballpoint in the cool "Purple Mosaic" pattern. The pen came from Shawn Newton of Newton Pens (located in Hot Springs, Arkansas), a talented penmaker who has been raising scholarship money for high school students by selling writing instruments and art through his website and eBay (he's raised over $58,000 USD since he started in 2012). My new ballpoint was one of several charity auctions Shawn was running on eBay that week, so I was happy to add to my "True Writer" collection, and help a worthy cause at the same time.

Last, but not least, was a parcel from Hyatt's, an art supply store in Buffalo, N.Y. Inside it was a limited edition Retro 51 'Tornado' rollerball in the "Gone Fishing" design, one of only 777 pieces made by this Richardson, Texas-based writing instrument company. I narrowly missed the opportunity to buy one---they sold out very quickly---but thanks to one of the good folks at Retro 51 (who spent a fair amount of time helping me track one down), I was able to find a dealer who still had some left for sale. It's a great-looking rollerball with a clever design made by a company that pays attention to small details... and its customers.

(L-R: Sheaffer 'Imperial 330' mechanical pencil, Levenger 'True Writer' ballpoint, Levenger 'Facets' fountain pen, Retro 51 'Tornado' rollerball & Pentel 'Tri Eraser')

Many thanks to all three of you for your thoughtfulness and generosity towards me and to others - they brightened my days during a rough patch :)

It saddens me that our common border is now no longer open...well, not as open as it once was. The Peace Arch monument which straddles the U.S-Canada border at Blaine, Washington and Surrey, B.C, has the words "May these gates never be closed" inscribed on its east gate. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the gates between our two countries are closed...not completely, but to the vast majority of us. I believe, though, that this global crisis is one that we can overcome if we think not only of ourselves, but of others as well.

Stay safe, everyone, and (at the risk of sounding preachy) please try your best to slow the spread of the virus by practicing social distancing, staying home when sick (or if you suspect you're sick), and washing hands frequently.

Take care,
~Maja

More vintage goodies!

A few more photos from VPC member Christopher R, these being some new acquisitions that he would have brought to our March meeting...

(please click on images to enlarge)

Thanks for the photos, Christopher!

Vintage writing instruments galore!

I know how disappointing it was for many of you that we had to cancel our March meeting. Longtime Vancouver Pen Club member Christopher R, however, was kind enough to send me some photos of his wonderful vintage writing instruments to post on our club's website. It's not the same as seeing them in person, but hopefully we'll be back to having regular meetings in the not-too-distant future.
In the meantime, please stay safe and enjoy this virtual show & tell, courtesy of Christopher, from the comfort of your homes :)

(please click on images to enlarge)

...and last, but not least, this beautiful Wahl-Eversharp boxed set ca. 1931:

For more information on vintage Wahl-Eversharp writing instruments, I'd highly recommend checking out W-E expert Syd Saperstein's website.

Many thanks to Christopher for sending us these photos!

March meeting CANCELLED

Due to venue unavailability (and other factors), the March 19, 2020 meeting of the Vancouver Pen Club has been cancelled.

~ UPDATE: Until further notice, ALL future Vancouver Pen Club in-person meetings are on hold due to the Coronavirus global pandemic ~ Stay safe, everyone!

Take care,
~Maja

Photos from our February meeting (Theme: Multi-coloured Fountain Pens)

We had a full house for our February meeting, with 26 VPC members (including two newcomers--Jaime and Gary) in attendence! Our meeting theme was "Multi-coloured Fountain Pens" (including crazy colour combos & shimmery, iridescent pens), and we saw a lovely array of them that night.
I snapped some photos during & after the meeting, so without further ado, here we go!

(~please click on images to enlarge~)

(Standing, L-R): Isaac, Glenn and Jim. (Seated, L-R, clockwise around the table): Ben (lower left corner of photo), Daryl, Armando,Chuck, Jerred, Christopher, Tony, Julienne, Natasha, Louise, Melodie, Nathan, Tristan, Justin, Stuart, me (Maja), René, Dave, Jaime and Gary (photo taken by Candice)

(L-R, clockwise around the table, L-R): Natasha (lower left corner of photo), Louise, Melodie, Nathan, Tristan, Justin, Stuart, Maja, René, Dave, Jaime, Isaac, Jim, Armando, Chuck, Glenn (standing), Jerred, Christopher, Tony and Julienne (photo by Candice)

(Above) A lovely selection of colour-shifting fountain pens belonging to Candice (L-R): three inexpensive Chinese-made fountain pens (Lamy Safari clones/"tributes") from AliExpress.com, the aptly-named Benu 'Chameleon' and a LIY 'MITU' fountain pen.

(Above) More cool-looking iridescent fountain pens belonging to Candice (L-R): three Waterman 'Kultur Reflectics', a Diplomat 'Magnum' and a Parker 'Frontier' "Chromaflair".

(Above) "Newest Acquisitions" is always our secondary theme, so Isaac brought his new Pilot 'Vanishing Point' fountain pen in "Blue Carbonesque" pattern to show us. It's a great fountain pen---a modern classic---and one that's well-suited to those who don't want to worry about losing their fountain pen's cap.

(Above) Glenn's new fountain pen made by Leonardo Officina Italiana---the "Messenger" model in orange ("arancio" in Italian). This large-but-well-balanced fountain pen (approximately the same length as the 'Momento Zero Grande' model) is made of a beautiful semi-translucent resin and currently comes in five colours. With 2020 being a leap year (366 days in length), the Leonardo pen company created 366 pens of each colour. Glenn posted a review---with much better photos than mine---of his 'Messenger' here on his website.

(Above) A fine collection of colourful fountain pens by PenBBS, owned by Dana.

(Above) Some new vintage acquisitions belonging to Christopher--a handsome black & cream no-name fountain pen, a black vintage fountain pen and a green Sheaffer 'Cadet' fountain pen.

(Above) A mix of new purchases and pens René brought in for our topic (top to bottom): vintage Parker Striped 'Duofold' (a/k/a the 'Duovac' because of its vacuum-filling mechanism), vintage Eagle fountain, vintage President fountain pen, vintage Traveler fountain pen, and a gorgeous modern fountain pen--the Edison 'Beaumont' in "Bedrock Flake".

(Above) More of René's great fountain pens! From top to bottom: a classic Waterman '54' in red ripple (red and black hard rubber), a Onoto de la Rue 4601 B8 plunger-filler (the prototype for the vacuum-fillers later produced by Sheaffer et al), a vintage Sheaffer 'Balance', a Sheaffer 'Imperial' model "444", an attractive Eclipse fountain pen in gorgeous green marbled plastic, and an unmarked ringtop in chased black plastic (most likely an Eclipse).

(Above) You can't see it in this photo, but Liz's Kaweco 'AL Sport' in "Petrol" finish *does* change colour depending on the light! This particular material finish was a Benelux Special Edition (made for retailers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) as well as a Limited Edtion (only 500 pieces were made world-wide).

(Above) Two wonderful pens belonging to Melodie. The large one is a beautiful custom-made fountain pen made by 18111.com featuring two rabbits, and the smaller one is an Opus 88 'Fantasia' eyedropper-filler.

(Above) Jerred's nice collection of PenBBS fountain pens on the left side of the pen case (and one Campo Marzio fountain pen in blue and yellow---last pen in top row), and on the right side (L-R) are his compact LIY "Future" fountain pen in the "Blue Coral Sea" material, a PenBBS '456' model in "Tiny Happiness" resin material, a Moonman N3, and one of Jerred' newest acquisitions--a Delta 'Fusion 82'.

(Above) A lovely pocket Sailor half-demonstrator fountain pen-Jaime's Sailor 'Pro Gear Classic' "Angel's Delight" Limited Edition (LE). The "Angel's Delight" was the eighth in Sailor's popular "Cocktail" series of LEs and was made for the Japanese domestic market only.

Jim's newest pen-related acquisition---a ensso "XS" minimalist pocket fountain pen made of black aluminum. When posted, this 12-sided pen becomes the size of a regular fountain pen (it also makes a delightful popping sound when you take its cap off ;)

(Below) Two of Nathan's newest pen purchases---a modern Fuliwen '017' fountain pen (with cool snake clip) in the "Starry Night" material, and a vintage Esterbrook 'J' fountain pen:

(Below) Some pens brought in by Stuart for our topics -- a colourful vintage Arnold lever-filling fountain pen and some Muji ballpoints he recently acquired:

Natasha's gorgeous Tailored Pen Company (formerly JRLPens) 'Churchill' model in "Lava Explosion". My photos don't do this lovely fountain pen justice...

(Below) New VPC member Gary's fountain pens. Gary just started collecting a few months ago, but he already has a really nice collection of fountain pens! In the top row of his pen case are (Left to Right) a nine-function Monteverde 'Tool Pen', a Franklin-Christoph model '02' in "Antique Ice" material, a J. Herbin 'Clear' fountain pen, a Lamy 'Safari', a Lamy 'Lx' Marron brown (special edition) and a Lamy 'Lx Studio' "All Black" (special edition). In the bottom row are (L-R) two Kaweco 'Liliput' fountain pens, a vintage Sheaffer Lady Skripsert 'VI' (Paisley) model, a Kaweco 'Sport', a Kaweco Brass 'Sport', a Kaweco 'Supra', a Graf von Faber-Castell (GvFC) 'Classic' "Guilloche Rhodium" . a GvFC 'Classic' "Sterling Silver", and two Pilot 'Vanishing Point' fountain pens:

Gary's very first fountain pen---a Kaweco 'Liliput', pictured next to a Hershey's "Kiss" candy (for scale):

I've been collecting colourful modern fountain pen for many years, and here are some I brought for our topic...Top row (L-R): ThINK fountain pens in the "Shag", "Punch Bowl", "Bee Bop", "Bayou", "Tigerlilly", "Iceland", "Sahara", "Mojito", "Poolside" and "Lobster" patterns, and two Levenger 'True Writer' fountain pens in "Carnval" and "Sea Glass". Bottom row (L-R): Levenger 'True Writer' in "Kyoto" material, Laban 'Mento' fountain pens in "Autumn Flake", "Celebration Red", "Celebration Blue", "Pumpkin Seed" and "Terazzo Pumpkin", a handcrafted fountain pen in swirly red, black & white made by Chris "Appleman" Hughes , a Noodler's 'Naponset' "Jersey Devil", a Conklin 'All-American' in "Yellowstone", a Parker 'Frontier' "Chromaflair" in purple & red, and a Sheaffer 'Mini Agio' in iridescent dark purple shades:

Some of the new fountain pens I brought to the meeting: (L-R) a green-yellow Yiren (Lamy Safari clone/"tribute") whose section and nib are both multicoloured, a Pelkan "Level" 'L65' model, a Schneider "Ray", a Visconti 'Saturno' "Black Rhea" (a Limited Edition--only 88 pieces made), a ThINK 'Gatsby' model in "Derby" material (which is the official name; others call it "Chaplin"), and a pink "Tornado" rollerball by Retro 51:

I was saddened to hear about the uncertain future of Retro 51 on their official blog but decided it would be wise to acquire a few more now (before the prices went up!), so here are my most recent Retro 51 purchases-(L-R): 'Tornado' rollerballs in the "Birthday Greetings-Yellow", "California" (special edition made for Goldspot Pens), "Elephant and Rhino Rescue" (first version) and "Lincoln" designs, "Lincoln" fountain pen and a "Santa Jaws" fountain pen (special edition made for Goulet Pens...and yes, it's an image of a Great White Shark wearing an ugly Christmas sweater ;):

I forgot to snap a photo of my new leather 12-pen case by Four Pines Supply company as well as the two great inks (Leonardo Officina Italiana "Purple" and Diamine "Skull & Roses", a shimmer ink made for the German market) I bought from Louise at the meeting, so I took a quick pic of them at home (photo below):

(Below) Last, but certainly not least, a few photos sent to me by newcomer Jaime, who brought some wonderful fountain pens for us to see. It was such a busy meeting that I forgot to take photos of them, but Jaime was kind enough to send me her own photos after I contacted her:

(~click on images to enlarge~)

Jaime's diminuative "Pocket 6" fountain pens in the "Unicorn" and "Dark Unicorn" by Schon:

Jaime's handcrafted 'Norsemen' fountain pen in "Raven Black", made by Genesis, a team of penmakers located in Hong Kong:

Jaime's "Westminster" model fountain pen made of "Oil Slick" resin, handcrafted by The Tailored Pen Company in Kentucky :

January 2020 meeting photos - part 2

Continuing on with photos from our club's January meeting, these courtesy of Ricardo...

As mentioned in part 1 of the January meeting pics, the Vancouver Pen Club Limited Edition "Momento Zero" fountain pens that were ordered by some of our club's members from the Leonardo Officina Italiana pen company were delivered to us by Glenn at our January meeting.

One of the happy new owners of this beautiful fountain pen (Tony):

(~ all photos courtesy of Ricardo ~ please click on images to enlarge ~)

This is the packaging for the steel-nibbed version of our club pen (the gold-nibbed pens came in a box that included a bottle of Leonardo fountain pen ink)...

I love fountain pens with sections that match the cap and barrel...

The cap band has "Vancouver Pen Club" engraved on it, and each pen is individually numbered (only 26 pens were made, and all were sold):

As you can see, the pen is large enough to be used unposted:

Tim (one of our club's co-founders) trying out the new VPC club pen:

Jerred (wearing blue, pictured with Alejandra and Bruce) came up with the idea of "White Fountain Pens" for January's meeting topic...

...and here's one example he brought in---a white Delta 'Vintage' fountain pen. Despite its name, this is actually a compact modern pen that measures just under 5 inches in length:

Ricardo's wonderful sketchbook, filled with his drawings of some of the pens shown at our meetings :

Longtime VPC member Christopher talking about one of the many interesting vintage fountain pens he brought to show us:

A lovely NOS (New Old Stock) vintage Sheaffer flat-top in the pearl (cream & black) design, one of Christopher's most recent purchases:

Christopher carefully inspecting a fountain pen. In addition to being a keen collector of vintage fountain pens, Christopher also repairs and restores them...

Ricardo's brand-new Parker 'Jotter' ballpoint pen in bright yellow:

Ricardo's Jotter (shown below) is a standard-sized 'Jotter'. In 2018, Parker introduced a larger version (7% larger, to be exact) of the Jotter called the 'Jotter XL' which has both a longer body and a wider grip...

Yes, Ricardo sketches non-fountain pens, too!

René testing out a fountain pen...

René's vintage lever-filler made by the Eclipse Pen Company (note the handy inkview window---the transparent part of the section---that allows the user a peek at the ink supply):

René's beautiful Conklin 'Duraflex' 365 Dayflex Limited Edition:

Another white fountain pen René showed at our meeting---a Jinhao fountain pen with an intricate golden dragon overlay:

Our secondary topic is always Newest Acquisitions. Here are two of René's latest--a red vintage Esterbook 'SJ' and a Cross 'Townsend' "Year of the Rat" Limited Edition (middle pen):

I forgot to photograph René's Benu 'Minima' at the December meeting, so I asked him to bring it to the January meetup. Thankfully he remembered, so I photographed it. Even more thankfully, Ricardo took a much better photo of this beautiful pen:

A close-up shot of the lovely sparkly material. The finish is "Baikal Ice" and it was chosen after René won a contest to name it (congrats, René!)

René and longtime VPC member Barry, sitting next to him...

Barry brought in a really nice 48-pen leather case by Girologio (which we forgot to photograph!) to our January meeting. The case is made of high-quality "ecologically tanned" tanned leather and can fit fountain pens as large as the massive Montblanc 149.

Barry taking a closer look at a fountain pen...

(L-R) Barry, Stuart, Jim, Maja, Daryl. Jim brought in a very cool-looking white Pilot 'Vanishing Point' fountain with black trim and a black nib (nicknamed the "Stormtrooper" VP :)

Stuart always brings in interesting fountain pens (both modern and vintage) for use to see. For our topic, he brought three vintage Lady Sheaffers in white and this gorgeous modern fountain pen, his Graf von Faber-Castell 'Intuition':

The body of the pen is made of a single piece of fluted resin (a lovely aesthetic) with an interesting mechanism within---turning the metal knob at the bottom of the barrel unscrews the nib-converter unit, allowing the user to fill the pen without staining the barrel:

The medallion on the top of the cap featuring the Graf von Faber-Castell logo:

There's a really nice review of this lovely pen on Glenn's pen blog...

Tony giving the 'Intuition' a test-drive. Though slightly shorter than a Pelikan M800 in length, the barrel diameter of the "Intuition" and the M800 are roughly the same, making it comfortable to hold...

(L-R) Stuart, Isaac, myself (Maja) and Jenny:

Isaac talking about the white fountain pen he brought to the meeting for our theme--his Conklin 'Nozac' Special Edition made for the State of Israel's 70th anniversary (there's a photo of it in part 1 of the January meeting pics):

That's me showing all the white fountain pens in my collection (photo here). Although I'm a huge fan of colourful pens, I recently started collecting white pens in earnest :

(photo below) Patiently listening to me ramble on about my white pen collection:(L-R) Glenn, Nathan, Ray, Ben, Mindy, Alejandra and Bruce.

Ray brought in some very nice writing instruments, including a Montblanc 'Karajan' (with white piano keys) and a pocket fountain pen by Schon Design, a manufacturer located in Pennsylvania. Ben showed us one of his Christmas gifts---a bright green fountain pen by Dryden Designs, a UK company.

Daryl's wooden dip pen, a recent acquisition:

Jenny's white Lamy 'Safari' "I ❤ Vancouver" special edition:

Another pen belonging to Jenny--her beautiful Sailor 'Pro Gear' "Usagiya Exclusive Mizuki" Limited Edition, produced in 2016 and limited to 120 pieces:

Dana's Pelikan M200 "Café Crème" Special Edition:

The "Café Crème" was produced for one year (2015) only. I love how its brown-coloured inkview window matches the colour of the cap and turning knob:

Dana also brought in a vintage fountain pen for our theme---a vintage Lady Sheaffer Skripsert model X, the "Tulle Gold on White" pattern (there's an excellent reference guide to the multitude of Lady Sheaffer models here):

(photo below) I'm trying to remember whose TWSBI 'Eco' this is. I think it's Tony's because he talked about swapping out a TWSBI nib with a much wider nib made by different manufacturer... I've noticed more and more of our pen club members doing this as it allows them to use more exotic nibs in the fountain pens they purchase (which usually only come with Extra-Fine/Fine/Medium/Broad nibs):

(photo below) Nathan's very first fountain pen--the uber-cool Lamy 'Dialog 3', which features a clever mechanism - twisting the barrel a half-turn causes the nib ("hidden" within the barrel) to extend, and the clip to retract (Lamy's short video of it in action here ):

A chunky Martemodena 'Dolcevita Federico' fountain pen, also owned by Nathan:

Mindy talking about her newest acquisition, a Parker '21' fountain pen (an underrated cousin of the famous Parker '51')...

Alejandra showing us the lone white/off-white fountain pen she owns, a vintage "no-name" fountain pen she bought from fellow VPC member Mark:

Longtime VPC member (he joined in 2009!) Bruce talking about some of the amazing limited edition fountain pens he brought in for our primary topic:

Among the great pens Bruce brought in was his Visconti "Mudejar Art" Limited Edition (only 600 pieces were made) produced in 2007 (there's an reference page showing all the Visconti LEs here).
I'm sorry we didn't photograph them, but I'm happy that Bruce brought in fountain pens that we'd normally never see in person :)

In addition to restoring vintage fountain pens, Christopher also sells them!

A closer look at the vintage pens Christopher brought in to sell at our meeting:

Getting ready to leave....

Well, that's all of our January meeting photos---no part 3 to come! Many thanks to all who came to our January meeting on a wintry evening. Special thanks to Glenn for bringing our VPC club pens, and to Ricardo for the beautiful photos in this blog post :) I'll be posting photos from our February meeting soon...